Michael Miller: 100 years of ups and downs in Peoria Heights

At 100 years old, Peoria Heights Congregational Church is starting over.

Starting over with a new denomination, a new pastor and a new approach.

During the past 10 years, I've dropped in on the congregation at Prospect Road and Glen Avenue for an occasional column. My visits started when the Rev. Phil Meagher became pastor there and was given the job of reinventing the church. We decided that we would talk from time to time about how that effort was going.

After some success in attracting new people to the church with contemporary worship and the Alpha Course, PHCC hit some rough times. First, a group of about 10 church members called for Meagher's dismissal, congregation moderator Rick Picl said recently. When it became clear the pastor wouldn't be fired, several of those who wanted him gone left, the moderator said.

Then Meagher died unexpectedly in 2005. Some of those whom he had "shepherded" left after that, Picl said.

"We were in a kind of huge limbo with no direction for about eight months," said the lifelong PHCC member.

But it didn't take long for the congregation to find its direction – one that eventually led it out of the United Church of Christ denomination.

Many in Heights Congregational had long been unhappy with the liberal drift of the UCC, Picl said. That discontentment peaked after the denomination's General Synod voted in 2005 to endorse homosexual marriage rights. In November 2005, the Peoria Heights congregation voted 51-26 to publicly disassociate itself from the resolution endorsing homosexual marriage.

Representatives of the UCC and other denominations were then invited to speak to Heights Congregational members as its leadership considered whether to stay in the UCC.

The church voted by a 2-1 margin in September 2006 to leave the UCC and in early 2007 4-1 to join the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.

Less than a dozen people left because of the change, with a couple new members arriving in the past few months.

But now that the church has a direction, it's hoped they'll go back up.

A new pastor is being sought while the Rev. Joe Seese, an American Baptist Church minister, serves as interim leader. Another move will be to "get invested in more youth activities," Picl said. The membership of about 175 people is mostly older.

Church members also plan to get more involved in the community, Picl said. An Aug. 18 concert in Tower Park, across Prospect Road from the church, featuring new Christian pop star Brandon Heath drew an estimated 1,500. The concert was the culminating event of the year's centennial celebration.

Challenges remain, though. Sunday school attendance has dwindled. The Alpha Course faded out after Meagher's death.

"There's a lot of work to do still, to get that (contemporary) service bigger, to appeal more to the younger generation," Picl said. "I think we had a lot of people burn out and I think some of those people are getting a second life."

Seese agreed.

"One thing I've been really impressed with is the optimism of some of the members," he said.

Picl said one of the benefits of surviving the pain of the past few years is that now Peoria Heights Congregational members are more closely aligned theologically.

"I think philosophically and spiritually and theologically, we're all on the same page here now," he said. "We don't have a mix and match."

Michael Miller covers religion for the Peoria Journal Star. Write to him in care of the Journal Star, 1 News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61643 or send e-mail to mmiller@pjstar.com. Comments may be published.